Save the world and show what you're capable of in this sports-inspired Run & Gun. Use your explosive shots and powerfully deflect enemy projectiles. Even when your inner weaknesses resurface, you're the only one who can make it through.
Genre: Run&Gun, Action
Engine: Unity
Studio: Tiecorp Studio
Duration: 5 weeks
Period: march - april 2026
Context
In March 2026, I completed a 5-week internship at Tiecorp Studio, a small indi game studio based in France, who currently working on its first project, Tiebreakers.
Tiebreakers is a Shonen Run&Gun, inspired by Metal Slug and Contra, with a strong sports aesthetic and non-stop action. The game challenges players to push their limits by completing themed levels and defeating bosses.
My roles
My main role was Level Design. I was responsible for creating the V1 of the game's 4th level, going through research and concept development, paper design, iterations, 2D blockout, and arena design.
My second role was Combat Design, where I designed the different types of enemies, weapons, and power-ups featured in my 4th level.
Screenshots
My Roles
Level Design
Level Timeline
After receiving the level intentions and specifications from the Game Director, including the order in which different locations and narrative events should appear, I created the Level Timeline. This provided an overview of the entire level, allowing us to review the sequence of events, maintain proper pacing, and identify any missing elements.
I researched and added references and inspirations for each location to align my vision with the rest of the team.
I mapped out the introduction and presence of new features, such as enemies and weapons.
For each gameplay section and location, I created a small scheme to illustrate what the intended layout could look like.
Paper Design
I then started working on the different gameplay situations for the level. First, for each new feature (enemy, weapon, or power-up), I created several iterations of gameplay situations that could be interesting and fun to play. The goal was to create varied challenging situations that required different player's skills.
I then selected the best situations and placed them into the Level Timeline, based on the overall progression and layout.
Once the best situations had been selected, I started working in more detail on the layout and combat, including enemy and object placement.
There were 2 types of combat sections: scrolling segments and waves arenas. For the arenas, I designed several enemy waves and arranged them in a specific order to create a gradual progression.
Iterations:
Design of Situations:
Level Assembly:
Finally, I assembled all the arena and scrolling segments to build the complete level. This provided a global overview of the level and allowed me to evaluate its pacing, variety, difficulty, and overall consistency.
Blockout 2D
I then moved on to blockout 2D of the level in Unity, using the tools provided by the team.
I implemented:
Combat encounters, including arenas and enemy placement.
Weapons and power-ups, based on the type of encounter.
Destructible objects, to make the level feel more dynamic and natural.
Trigger boxes, used to activate arenas and change camera parameters.
Collectibles and secrets, which add score.
Text messages, explaining the intended purpose of each section.
Various placeholders, to be replaced later by the Art team.
Based on feedback from the Game Director, I made numerous adjustments, iterations, and balancing to improve the level and bring it to its V1 milestone.
Combat Encounters
Based on the Paper Design, I created several types of combat encounters: scrolling segments and waves arenas.
For the scrolling segments, I had to position the enemies and make the player's path, including small traversal elements. Enemies could not simply be ignored, the player had to defeat them in order to progress. These sections were often very dynamic, encouraging the player to keep moving forward.
For the arenas, I used a tool that allowed me to control enemy spawning, including their positions, spawn timing, quantity, and types. My goal was to create progressive and varied waves that challenged different player skills.
I playtested the enemies encounters extensively to continuously tweak and balance them.
Game Design
Combat Design
Each level was designed to introduce new content to keep the gameplay varied. For my level, I was also responsible for designing these new features.
I went through several iterations and reviews with my Game Director. My goal was to create features that would change the gameplay and player behavior, making the level feel distinct from the others. These features also needed to work well together to create even more variety.
In total, I designed 3 enemies, 2 weapons, and 1 power-up. While waiting for them to be produced, I used placeholders and tweaked existing game features to test my intended design.
Walkthrough
Studio
